[Seth81]

Originally Posted by Lampshade

Looks great, i've been watching your build on these and you've done some great research. One thing to look at is what your corals will activly use. With LED's you can put out a wavelength very close to what the corals will need, and also what makes them bright. check out:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/9/aafeature - article on fluorescence, the chart at the bottom shows the excitation wavelength of most common coral's fluorescence
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/20....full.pdf+html - Paper on how corals respond to light, interesting info on polyp extension based one what wavelengths are present.

It's great that you are taking a mix of blue's and some TV. The mix should hit the peak's of lots of different corals providing great results. This is where LED's far surpass any other tank lighting, because you are going to hit everything in the 400 - 550 wavelength, and not just have one peak in there like most halides. Can't wait to see the results.

I read all of the first link, and most of the second link that you suggested, they were really interesting thanks! What I got out of it, is that if one wants to have some really florescent corals, one should have the 390-450nm range covered. And I would expect rapid coral growth in the 400- 500nm range. Which I think a mix of true violets, royal blues and a little true blue maybe the answer.

One thing I noticed though is that the 420nm true violets don't have too much of the 390 - 400nm range. I am tempted to throw one 400nm LED in per lighting strip, or use 410 nm violets. Anyone on here have any experience in the near UV spectrum? Results?

Rob, still not blue enough for yeah eh?! Ha ha! I was looking through some of your pictures, your tank doesn't seem that blue to me, do you mind briefly describing your lighting setup, and any reasoning behind all the royal blues you recommend? I do understand that lighting preference is very subjective. In one of my pics with 3 RB's to 4 CW XM-L's you can see that the light is already fairly blue.

Personally I had hoped to vary my lighting conditions throughout a 24 hour cycle, towards night I would have a very Avatar thing going on with lots of florescence and actinic light , as it got later in the night switch to more of a violet dominated color. During the day I would go with more of a bright white look more like MH's. And in the morning more of a warmer color.